Objectives

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This is a transdisciplinary course taught by professors from the universities of Lausanne and Lancaster. It aims at making disciplines and institutional practices meet and dialogue, as it is the organizers’ belief that the current economic and ecological crises and all its human dimensions can only be apprehended by a refounding of our sense of community. The aim of the course is to introduce students to transdisciplinary studies; it requires from them to get out of their disciplinary comfort zone to confront new forms of discourse, understand the effects of their own discipline on the world and on others, and reflect together with others on new solutions to our impending problems. Students from 4 different masters can take the course (HEC, Géoscience, SSP, lettres)

Contents

Session 1 21.2.

1. Introduction to the course

2. Industrialization and environmental destruction – early eco-critics and the return of eco-critics in the 1960

Guido Palazzo (HEC) and other profs

Session 2 28.2.

Global changes from the perspectives of Earth System sciences: quantifying human influences on Earth

Marie-Elodie Perga (FGSE)

Session 3 7.3.

The Petrocene and Post-Petroleum Culture

Christian Arnsperger (FGSE)

Session 4 14.3.

The rise of capitalism and neoliberal ideology

Ulrich Hoffrage (HEC)

Session 5 21.3.

The rise of the anthropocene

Yohan Arrifin (SSP)

Session 6 28.3.

Movie “Merchants of Doubt”/the construction of doubts

Anette Mikes (HEC)

Session 7 4.4.

Romanticism and the Invention of Nature

Boris Vejdovsky (Lettres/UNIL) & Simon Bainbridge (Arts/UL)

Session 8 11.4.

TBD

Session 9 18.4.

The business case for climate change: how different interests groups have shaped the narrative on climate change and its possible solutions

Heidi Strebel (HEC)

Session 10 2.5.

The sustainable development goals between international, transnational, national and local governance

Nicole Helmerich (SSP) & Guido Palazzo (HEC)

Session 11 9.5.

The apocalyptic imaginary: How it shapes or distorts ideas about transition in popular culture ling

Pre-requisites

Evaluation

First attempt

The 2-hour course is worth 3 credits ECTS. To validate the course students are required to 1) attend the classes, 2) prepare each session with a short written essay.

For each session (except session 1 and 14) participants have to write a short essay/reflection paper of 300 (+/-10%) words on the readings proposed by the professors in charge of the session.

Overall, there are 11 reflection papers to be written. Each of these reflections will be graded. Please upload your assignment on the moodle before the deadlines specified for each session. The reference point for the essays will be the required readings for the respective sessions and the guiding questions of the professors.

Retake

Exam:

Without exam (cf. terms)

Evaluation:

“In case of failure with the final grade below 4.0, the parts of the validation that have been graded below 4.0 (be it one or more of the short essays or the final essay) have to be repeated.”